[VHFcontesting] K1DS-Rover results

[Rick R]

I am happy that everything works, and there was plenty of activity, and I had a lot of fun. A few nice stops at some fixed stations for a bite and refreshing.  Nothing controversial or troublesome. Not very interesting! Yes, it's the problems that make the headlines---the plane landing in Hudson River and all getting off safely, not the other thousands of flights that just went on schedule and go the millions of folks where they were headed....
OK, so there were a few minor issues---like the power cord to the microwave rigs which seems to be intermittent---I got to pull it out and change the connector. The panic stop I had to make when a car in front of me suddenly stopped and a few things tumbled and I heard the sparks crackling--the 24VDC battery stack fell over and the wires came out of their crimps, but easily restored. And the fire trucks that blocked my access to the usual FN30 spot on Mt. Mitchell in NJ, but I found an alternative that did most of what I needed. A few operator errors when I forgot to switch an antenna feed or an IF frequency of a transverter. The greatest thing was the help from all of you--the gang who have helped me put together the rover over the years, the other rovers who share their operating plans and spots, the patience of all the fixed stations in working me through the bands, and the XYL, who finds herself busy on the contest weekends and leaves me free to operate. As a single rover now (my harmonic N1XKT who used to family rove with me now has his own rover) I have my hands full with all the gear, antennas and driving under suboptimal conditions. Cold, snow, fog...but it wasn't as bad as some previous years. Yes, a few improvements due for next year, but glad to work all of you as well as I could. Apologies to those who I lost as we ran up the bands, or to those who I might have forgotten to QSY with....   2009 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes       K1DS   Grids: FN20, 10, 30, FM19, 29
    ROVER                            EPA Section
    Operators: K1DS
    Band      QSOs          QSO pts.      Mults.    --------------------------------------------    50         59            59            8     144        164           164           17     222        105           210           13     432        101           202           12     903        37            148           7     1296       47            188           7     2304       21            168           4     3456       17            136           4     5760       11            88            3     10368      14            112           3     24G        7             56            2     Laser      7             56            3     --------------------------------------------    TOTALS     590           1587         83 + 5 = 88 
                          Claimed score = 139,656